Baseball fans and players alike have superstitions while watching or playing the sport in hopes that, by diligently adhering to them, something special will happen. Whether it’s an important win for their team or something historic like a perfect game, there are rules and rituals to be followed.

For some players it’s what they eat before, during and after a game, a pre-game ritual involving music or a lucky object. For others, it may be rituals that take place strictly on the field, whether at the plate, on the mound, or in the outfield. Some even depend on their clothing choices.

The number one superstition in baseball would have to be the no-hitter / perfect game superstition. It is an unspoken and unwritten rule that during a perfect game or no-hitter, you don’t talk about it or even utter the words.

Oh yeah, you also don’t want to say anything to the pitcher while he’s in his no-no zone.

If it dawns on you that one team is being no hit and that same pitcher hasn’t issued a walk, you keep quiet about it. I honestly try not to even think about it, pushing it to the far corners of my mind.

This one is getting harder to avoid though, as technology spreads the word so quickly. The MLB At-Bat app purposely announces when a no-no or a perfecto has reached the sixth inning.

In addition to the app creating what I feel is a potential jinx, social media accounts like those of MLB and ESPN reporters, beat writers, etc. all like to announce or post when there is a no-hitter or perfect game in progress. Then again, if it’s your team that’s being no-hit, you probably don’t really mind if someone jinxes it.

This next one is mainly for the players, but fans take notice of it to for sure. When a player goes on and off the field, they make a point of not stepping on the chalk foul lines. Some jump over them, some take a wide step, but for those unfortunate enough or someone who doesn’t care, stepping on the chalk line can come back to get them.

Atlanta Braves’ pitcher Mike Foltynewicz disregarded this age-old superstition in Game-1 of this year’s NLDS at Dodger Stadium and, in fact, blatantly stomping his cleats onto the foul line as he walked off the field. The next inning, he gave up a three-run shot to Max Muncy.

Braves right-hander Mike Foltynewicz might want to think twice about stomping on the foul line when exiting the field again. He gave up this three-run home run to Max Muncy in the bottom of the second inning of Game-1 of the NLDS after doing so. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Even as just a fan, I know better. Anytime I’ve gone on a field, especially when I once threw out a ceremonial first pitch, I took a leap over the line. Can’t have my team losing because of something I did.

Another one that involves fans and players alike is how to keep a winning streak going. Some players will wear the same socks without washing them for as long as their team continues to win.

Fans will do the same, as I can personally attest to. I once wore the same shirt three days in a row to ensure the Dodgers would get the wins they needed.

It was a no-brainer for me to wear my 2015 California League Champions Rancho Cucamonga Quakes jersey to the 2018 Cal League finals … AND IT WORKED! (Photo credit – Lauren Jennings)

Players are also known to make sure they use the same bat and do the same ritual each time they step up to the plate. Some players fix their batting gloves incessantly, some lick their bats, and some do, uh, other things…

Superstition, habit, or whatever you want to call it, fortunately Joc Pederson got over this one in a hurry.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

And we’ve ALL seen this one.
(Photo credit – Mark J. Rebilas)

To fix a batting slump, some players are said to sleep with their bats next to them, while others resort to voodoo dolls, like Jobu and his rally rum from the movie Major League.

Think baseball players aren’t superstitious? Then why is Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp rubbing Jobu’s head between innings? (Photo credit – Kendrea LeRoy)

Others were once superstitious – or even cursed – based on past history, but have since had them reversed … much to the appreciation of their fans.

The curse of the Chicago Black Sox (now the White Sox) held them winless in World Series play up until 2005. Eight members of the 1919 Black Sox team were caught accepting money to intentionally lose the World Series, thrusting the franchise into a decades-long postseason tail spin.

But hands down, the most famous of all baseball superstitions is the Curse of the Billy Goat, also in Chicago, but this one involving the Chicago Cubs.

During the 1945 World Series between the Cubs and Detroit Tigers, lifelong Cubs fan William Sianis, a Greek-American immigrant and owner of the popular Billy Goat Tavern located across the street from Wrigley Field, was asked to leave Game-4 of the series because his pet billy goat Murphy was bothering other fans because it… well… stank. Sianis was furious as he was being escorted from the historic ballpark, shouting “Them Cubs, they ain’t gonna win no more.”

Sure enough, the Cubs did not play in another World Series for the next 71 years until 2016, when the finally won baseball’s World Championship for the first time in 108 years.

William Sianis with his pet billy goat Murphy.
(AP photo)

The Red Sox shared a similar curse, this one at the hands of the Sultan of Swat, the King of Crash, the Colossus of Clout, Babe Ruth, the Great Bambino (yes, I did just pull all of that from The Sandlot). The Sox sold Ruth to the Yankees on January 3, 1920, which not only upset Red Sox fans to no end, it also thrust their team into the decades-long Curse of the Bambino. As a result, the Red Sox didn’t win a World Series after The Babe left. They have since won multiple World Championships to finally shatter the curse, but the fierce rivalry between Yankees and Red Sox fans is still in full effect even today.

The same happened to the Cleveland Indians when they traded nine-time All-Star right fielder Rocky Colavito to the Detroit Tigers in 1960. Unfortunately for Tribe fans, that curse is still intact, with their team having not won a World Series since 1948.

Young or old, male or female, baseball superstitions know no bounds.

This Rally Kitty has worked several times for the Dodgers this season. (Photo credit – Carlos Peralta)

Superstitions also come in a variety of colors … including, of course, Dodger Blue.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

All in all, whether you’re superstitious or not, remember, “It’s only weird if it doesn’t work.”